Claire Stanfield
by TheSilverHunt3r
Summary: Claire Stanfield has a habit of leaving everything behind him in ruin. Luckily most of his family and friends seem immune to the habit. Short six shots. Includes Claire x Chane.
1. Prologue-December 31st

'Blood makes you related. Loyalty makes you family.'

-Anonymous

On December 31st, in the 1900s, at midnight, one very important baby was born.

A week after he was born, he opened his eyes.

His hair and eyes were a dark red, he giggled and watched everything around him with fascination.

Over year after he was born, his parents died, leaving him as an orphan. He eventually grew up with the Gandors and Firo. His name is Claire Standfield, ah, excuse me, legally now it's Felix Walken. But I will be calling him Claire regardless.


	2. Circus Murders

'Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don't take anything too seriously, it'll all work out in the end.'

-David Niven

The tent flap was opened, and someone slipped inside. Pitter patter of rain covered up the sound. In the middle of the area, a man was practicing his juggling.

The lamp was blown out. The man started.

"Who is it? Joker? Stone?" The juggler called out in the inky dark of the large tent. His head moved, trying to find movement within the tent.

"What is this, some kind of joke?"

A hit to the back of his head was his only answer. The man blacked out, shards of the lamp laying scattered around the puddle of red.

Claire was known as the Red Joker at the circus. He was a trapeze artist, and a very good one at that. Unfortunately there were murders at the circus Claire was at, it seemed to be the dealings of a serial killer.

Claire watched from the sidelines, just going about his day. He observed everyone, from the bumbling of stagehands and nervous performers. The ever confident ringmaster, and sarcastic lion tamer.

And by the second killing, he had a definite answer.

A note book full of personal day by day happenings by the circus killer was left on top of the body. Filled with close scrutiny of every person in the circus.

Claire took care of the killer, but in doing so, the fact that there was another killer in the circus was found out. So after one more year, Claire left. Carefully, quietly, and leaving no one with suspicions aside from a few astute people who wondered.

An elderly woman told the stories of the circus folks to her grandchildren. One person she told the fears of was a young redhead, who always 'had a smile on his face and his head in the clouds'.


	3. Returning home

p data-p-id="f998621cfedab39226a313660c7bef21"'It's a funny thing about coming home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You realize what has changed is you.'/p  
p data-p-id="8b11897950d02516e1c1e3ccd8caaa00"-F. Scott Fitgerald/p  
p data-p-id="d0234e53cf44d0d487f273ede70f90cd"Claire stopped in front of the building. He closed his eyes, then opened them. He let out the breath he was holding as he stepped inside. He slipped through the house, to a back room. /p  
p data-p-id="ec138fa6e610b0f8d905aaeff851043c"It felt different, being home. /p  
p data-p-id="32211bca8fb58762b1c3c43d89502994"Claire peered through the crack, a smile alighting on his face at the familiar figures playing poker. /p  
p data-p-id="73a09e60113e1120244db0206599fc20"He opened the door and slipped in, sneaking between Luck and Keith. "Good to see ya." Claire drawled with a grin, the three brothers's reaction varied from jumping to flinching. Claire draped an arm over Luck. /p  
p data-p-id="2af2608588654e828d923946aa1776b7""Claire?" Luck asked. Giving voice to the hopeful thought of the brothers. /p  
p data-p-id="4008132ef46f4bcc8e9f8b5c19565174""Don't tell me you don't recognize me, it's been a while, but really." Claire said teasingly./p  
p data-p-id="3aba87d76bd2e900ea9e8ec09ced0ce7""Like anyone of us could forget that face." Keith said dryly. /p  
p data-p-id="ff3b71f6f723d8e82a76e99b0dba1bcd"The three brothers grinned before they surrounded their younger brother in an inescapable hug./p  
p data-p-id="72955fcc0563eee545a040e9d4bb92d4" "Really?" Claire's muffled voice complained. /p  
p data-p-id="d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e" /p 


	4. Back to work

'You'd think a sociopathic assassin wouldn't have a fan following but he does.'

-Laurel K. Hamilton

After Claire had settled in and caught up with the under ground news. Claire went to work assassinating people. Not that he really stopped over the past year since he left the circus.

But now, he had a base of sorts. He was on his home turf, with his brothers nearby.

Claire cleared out those on the Gandors hit lists, including some non rivals to ensure his activities wouldn't be traced back to them.

He took out warehouses, headquarters, and small experimenting labs. He earned the name Vino. Then he stopped.

And though his wanderlust would spring up soon again, for now he was content.


	5. Conductor

'There's nothing quite like a real train conductor to add color to a quotidian commute.'

-Anita Diament

It was when Claire began traveling places that he discovered his love for trains. And after learning the bare basics, he decided it would be both a fun and smart way to get to his jobs across the country.

So he applied, got the job, and was put into a mentorship like partnership with an older man. His name was Tony, and he taught Claire everything he knew. The two considered each other family, and Claire considered Tony his accepted parent figure.

Tony was a man you could trust. He was still agile, despite his age. And had a great knowledge of countries, cities, and small towns. He loved history, telling Claire of some great battle that had happened, or such person that came from some near place they were passing. He loved telling stories, and so he did. Sometimes making up yarns with Claire, or talking about a event that happened in his life.

Tony was neat, never a hair out of place. He would often times crack jokes when he wasn't busy, although at times he was gruff. He would always end conversations with a never waning smile that Claire had hoped to match one day. He was widower as well, and spoke of his departed wife with a never lost fondness. He managed to earn Claire's respect, and trust, and always seemed to know what to say.

And on the Flying Pussyfoot, not long after Tony had said that it was his last train ride, he was killed.

Which in the logic of after someone had pulled a gun on you, had not left Claire in a wonderful mood. The fact that Tony was missing, without a doubt, was murdered, had made him mad. So he slipped directly into assassination mode, with the intent to hurt the idiots who had killed Tony.

He then ran into Chane, Russo, and Lua on the top of the train. And he had fallen in love. With Chane that is, not any of the latter.

So he courted the mute assassin, while still remembering the tales of Conductor Tony who talked about his wife.

'...Treat your wife with respect, kindness, and trust. And then maybe you'll have a shot at getting engaged then.' Tony had teased.

And when Claire and Chane married, he named one of their children, a son, Tony Eric Walken.


	6. Too many, too soon

'We are immortal until our work on Earth is done.'

-George Whitefield

Claire and Chane lived and loved on through the years. Chane had become immortal through the elixir, but the redhead managed to slip through all attempts to get him to have the wine like substance.

And now, they were around ninety, and somehow Claire was as young as ever. What was the reason, none of them knew. Aside from a certain Ronny Schiatto.

Claire went around laughing, bright as ever. He took jobs, learned languages, traveled around the world, sometimes with Chane, sometimes not.

But he never forget the people he knew who died. He'd never forget his adventures, and to ensure that, he wrote them down and sold stories as an author. He went through the archives of the Daily Days, putting together the relevant pieces and scenes. His penname was Rosso Vino, the only thing known about him to the public was that he had bright red hair. Which earned him the name Clancy, by his fan base.

Eventually some animators decided to make series out of it. And the story, called Baccano, became a massive success.


End file.
